OSDFA's Monthly Musings: February Edition!
The start of the spring semester is always a busy time at OSDFA; just as we are excitedly welcoming everyone back to campus, we are also deep in award deadlines, events and planning ahead for the next cycle of opportunities! Take a look at some of the exciting things we’ve been working on this month:
Goldwater & Truman Nominees:
Each spring, we have the opportunity to nominate a select number of students for the Barry Goldwater Scholarship (for sophomore/junior STEM researchers) and the Truman Scholarship (for juniors who are interested in public service). These students begin working with OSDFA in the Fall semester and then, during winter break, meet with a campus committee (representative faculty & staff members) to finalize their applications. OSDFA then prepares a statement of nomination for these select individuals who will represent Rutgers - Camden. This year, we are pleased to share that Tiffany Chan (‘27), Alan Rozenblit (‘26), and William Aluoch (‘26) have all been nominated for the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, while juniors Christine Do, QueenTeja Cooper, Duane Horne, and Presley Albadine have been nominated for the Truman Scholarship. We are so proud of these students’ persistence to complete these applications and feel honored to have supported them through this process.
SAS Goes Grad Recap
We had an exciting week of in-person and digital programming for SAS Goes Grad week! We led sessions on leveraging your CliftonStrengths, and helped students uncover how they can best use their strengths in their professional, personal, and academic lives–leading up to graduate school.
Then, we hosted back-to-back sessions on Building Your Scholar Profile/LinkedIn, where students brainstormed the experiences/activities/organizations from their current lives they could use to fill in their LinkedIn profiles, and dreamed of opportunities they hoped to get involved in during their time at Rutgers, and beyond.
We also had a session on Bachelor’s Accelerated Master’s (BAM) at Rutgers-Camden, where we shared ways to save time and money on a master’s degree, highlighting voices of current Rutgers-Camden graduate students. We chatted about graduate school timelines and best practices for applying in the Grad School Grind session, and finally, we discussed paying for graduate school to bring awareness regarding finances to our audience.
All in all, it was a great week, and we look forward to doing something like it next year!
Fulbright Semi-Finalists
Please join us in extending a BIG congratulations to the 4 Fulbright applicants who have been named Semi-Finalists!
Hermina Garic, a graduate student in history, is a finalist for a research fellowship in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Sophia Westfall, a senior majoring in English and digital studies, is a finalist for a graduate degree in Creative Writing at Cardiff University in Wales.
Maryam Johnson (CCAS’24) is a finalist for a graduate degree in Economics at Sabanci University in Turkey.
Samira Lari (CCAS’24) is a finalist for an English teaching assistantship in Indonesia.
These applicants are currently under review with each of their proposed host countries, and will learn their final status March - May of this year. Best wishes to each of you!
Look Ahead @ Fulbright Week
We will be designating the week of March 31 to programming specifically around the Fulbright US Student Program! The Fulbright US Student program is open to undergraduate seniors, grad students, and recent graduates, and it funds American citizens to study, conduct research, or teach English abroad. During OSDFA’s Fulbright week, you can expect:
Our Monthly Musings blog post
A Fulbright 101 virtual info session
‘Day in the Life’ Reel of a current Fulbrighter
Faces of Fulbright: Our current Semi-Finalists
Fulbright Fast Facts
And much more! Stay tuned to catch all of these exciting programs and posts!
Awards to Consider:
Udall Scholarship: March 6*
Humanity In Action: March 16
Fulbright US Student Program: Opens March 31**
Samvid Scholars: April 16
*must be nominated by Campus Representative; contact laura.collins@rutgers.edu to learn more
** to learn about the campus support process, please submit this brief interest form